PC-Q08 Detailed Exterior Features

Many "aluminum" cases these days are only partially aluminum, with substantial amounts of steel and plastic in addition to the aluminum. This is understandable: aluminum costs more than steel or plastic. This is not one of those cases. With the exception of a few tiny bits (steel thumbscrews, plastic internal cables, etc.) the entire case is aluminum. All of the aluminum is "grained" in the same direction and has the same texture, matching perfectly. Lian-Li also includes rounded edges to achieve an elegant design for the PC-Q08.

The front panel includes a power and a reset button, both back-lighted by blue LEDs. Below we have a pair of USB 3.0 ports and HD audio plugs for speakers/headphones and microphone. Lian-Li "forgot" to include Fire-wire ports, but that's something many people won't miss.

Once I removed the side panel, I discovered some scratches at the internal part of it. I quickly discovered my sample had the 140mm (front) fan uninstalled and jumping freely inside of the case, which probably was the source of the scratches. Actually, I found several others inside my sample, but I hope this to be an exception and not something you'll find on every PC-Q08 shipped.

Here's a picture showing how air-flow works inside the PC-Q08. Basically, it's the same as 90% of the rest of the cases at the market. Cold air enters by the 140mm fan and all the holes at the bottom of the case. Heat is removed from HDDs/SSDs, GPU, CPU, RAM and all other hot components and finally it's being exhausted at the rear (holes) and at the top by the 120mm fan. There's an additional exhaust point which is the PSU. When installed, it will also take hot air from the CPU area and exhaust it to the rear.

In the next section Benchmark Reviews gives you a closer look to the interior of the PC-Q08. Follow us there.

Comments

The case is simply too big for Mini-ITX. I don't see the point in paying a premium for Mini-ITX components only to drop them into a box about the same size as a Micro-ATX.

Don't get me wrong, it's great that the modding community started the whole trend of cramming desktop-level components into Mini-ITX builds and now manufacturers are catering to this niche market, but to focus your product range entirely on this?

The Q07 was too big because of the full-sized PSU and optical drive (yet could only fit a single-slot graphics card, so what's the point in a full-sized PSU). Now the Q08 is even bigger, and the Q11 is about the same size.

Oh and it being Lian Li the price is too much - the Q08 on its own is only about Â£15 less then a Sugo SG05-450, and that comes with a 450W 80Plus Bronze PSU (which is powerful enough to run any graphics card that can actually fit inside).

Silverstone got it right with the SG05/06 and event though the SG07 is pushing it a bit, it's still an obviously Mini-ITX case and about the right size.

Thanks cbeijer.The GPU goes right below the PSU, so imagine the GTX 460 I showed in the picture with the PSU installed. And as long as the GPU measures 300mm long or less, it will be able to be installed. I mentioned larger PSUs might have problems with the HDD cage at the middle, but you can remove it and still install 2 x 3.5" HDDs. I don't think many people will install a 1000 watts super-large PSU on this chassis. A 600 watts PSU should be fine for any GPU.